Industrial processes exist which produce an amine complex with aluminum trichloride (AlCl.sub.3). Examples of such processes include the reaction of silicon tetrachloride and an amine alane to produce silane and an amine.multidot.aluminum trichloride complex, according to the following equation: EQU 3SiCl.sub.4 +4AlH.sub.3 .multidot.NR.sub.3 .fwdarw.3SiH.sub.4 +4AlCl.sub.3.NR.sub. 3
For instance, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,006,095 and 4,900,856.
Although silane (SiH.sub.4) is a useful product, the byproduct AlCl.sub.3 .multidot.Nr.sub.3 complex does not have much value. One use would exist if aluminum trichloride could be recovered from this complex; however, this complex does not readily dissociate by heating to permit recovery of aluminum trichloride. Therefore it is desirable to find useful reactions of these amine.multidot.aluminum trichloride complexes to convert them to useful byproducts.